Golf club locking devices are known in the art. The cost of golf clubs have always made them an attractive target for thieves. In particular, unsecured and unattended golf bags and their contents make a tempting target for unscrupulous types, especially at public golf courses which are easily accessible.
Known locking devices are found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,019 to Lewis, U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,100 to Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 1,770,060 to Barlow, U.S. Pat. No. 1,717,959 to Cauffman, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,753 to Murphy.
The Cauffman patent discloses a device which is attached to the opening of a golf bag. When in the locked position, the device prevents the removal of golf clubs from the bag. The device comprises a circular base plate and a circular club locking member. The circular base plate has a series of circular openings for the shafts and grip ends of the golf clubs. The club locking member comprises a rotatable disk which is provided with corresponding openings for receiving the shafts of the clubs. The club locking member is rotatable between a normal position and a locked position. In the locked position, the locking member prevents the clubs from being pulled from the bag by constricting the openings around the shafts and grip ends of the clubs.
The device taught by Cauffman is cumbersome to use while golfing because the clubs must be individually inserted through the openings. In addition, the circular base and club locking plates severely restrict access to the inside of the golf bag and the number of golf clubs which can be carried (and secured) is limited by the number of openings. The size of the circular openings also means that clubs with small diameter shafts will be loosely held in the locked position. Furthermore, the disc shape of the locking member and accompanying circular movement makes the Cauffman unsuitable for use with golf bags which do not have a circular mouth.
The Murphy patent discloses a device for securing golf clubs in a golf bag. The device taught by Murphy fits over the top of a golf bag and is fastened by a strap assembly. The Murphy device comprises two stationary plates with a sliding plate disposed between the stationary plates. Each of the plates includes slots for allowing golf clubs to be inserted and removed from the bag. To secure the golf clubs in the bag, the sliding plate is moved forward to constrict the slot openings around the shafts of the clubs. The sliding plate includes a locking tab for receiving an external padlock shackle for locking the position of the sliding plate to prevent the plate from opening so that the clubs cannot be removed from the slots.
While the Murphy provides an improved golf club security device over the prior art devices, there are still drawbacks associated with the Murphy device. First, the arrangement of shifting plates as taught by Murphy is severely limited in practical application to golf bags because it effectively reduces golf club carrying capacity by closing off the open top of the bag. A minimum opening space is required in order to be able to easily insert and remove clubs in a golf bag. The Rules of Golf allow a golfer to carry a maximum of fourteen clubs, but many amateurs will carry more than fourteen clubs in addition to a ball retriever and other golf aids which are stored inside the club compartment. The sliding plate and slot arrangement taught by Murphy effectively reduces the opening space in the golf bag and thus the capacity of the bag. In order to accommodate more clubs, the Murphy device is either removed by the golfer during play or the slot size in the plates needs to be increased. Detaching the Murphy locking device for a round of golf would necessitate the removal of all the golf clubs, and then the installation and reinsertion of the clubs at the end of the round - clearly an undesirable mode of operation or option. Therefore to increase club capacity, the slot size in the Murphy device needs to be enlarged. This means that the diameter of the device must also be increased to accommodate the larger slots and the increased travel length of the sliding plate to effectively close the slots around the club shafts. Thus to provide the desired golf club capacity results in an increase in the diameter of the golf bag. Such an arrangement restricts the application of the Murphy device to golf bags with large enough diameters to accommodate the plates, This makes the Murphy device unsuitable for use with most smaller golf bags without sacrificing club carrying capacity. This shortcoming is further magnified by the trend to smaller and lighter golf bags.
Another drawback of the Murphy device is the potential incompatibility with the bag top geometry of existing golf bags. The geometry of present golf bag tops is becoming more complex to facilitate better club organization. The addition of the Murphy device to a golf bag with an oval shape, tear drop or with a compartmented top increases the geometry of the bag top and inevitably leads to a further decrease in capacity. This means that in practical terms the Murphy device is suitable for use with open top bags having a substantially circular shape.
Another drawback associated with the Murphy golf club security device is the need for an external padlock to secure the plates in the locked and open positions. The sliding plate and bottom plate each include a locking "lip" or tab having holes which are aligned in the respective locked and open positions. To secure the plates, the shackle of a padlock is passed through the respective aligned holes in the locking lips. If it is desired to secure the bag to a fixed object, such as a bag rack, then a cable of sufficient length is passed around the object and coupled to the shackle of the padlock. Therefore according to Murphy, it is necessary to carry along a separate padlock and cable in order to secure the plates and/or golf. It will be appreciated that a lock and cable is inconvenient to store in the golf bag because of the rigidity of the cable and the necessity to use precious pocket space which on most lightweight golf bags in use today is already at a premium. Furthermore, should the padlock or cable be lost or left behind, the utility of the device is destroyed because the plates can no longer be secured in the locked position.
In the Murphy device, the sliding plate is secured in locked position by inserting a padlock shackle through the respective holes in the locking tabs on the sliding and bottom plates. While such an arrangement prevents moving the sliding plate to the open position, the single tab restraint point and circular geometry of the sliding plate makes it possible to pry or torque the plate and cause side shifting which would extend the opening size of the slot at one end and thereby allow the club to be removed even though the sliding plate is in the locked position.
The security device taught by Murphy also includes "tabs", a cuff and a strap for fastening the device to the golf bag. This arrangement leads to another disadvantage arising from the fact that it does not accommodate the D-ring which is found on the vast majority of golf bags in use today. The D-ring provides a swivel for attaching the top end of a shoulder strap. The D-ring is preferably positioned as high as possible on the bag top to ensure that the bag does not become top-heavy and tip to spill clubs when carried. On carry bags, the balance point is of critical importance because the bag is carried in a horizontal position under the arm with the strap being supported on the golfer's shoulder. The arrangement of the tabs, cuff and strap in the Murphy device impedes the operation of the D-ring and impairs to the ability to comfortably carry the bag, thereby limiting the use of the device to golfers who use a pull cart or a power cart.
To provide improved golf club organization, some modern golf bags utilize an elevation in the bag top. The bag top is higher at one end for accommodating longer clubs, such the metal woods, and lower at the other end for shorter clubs, such as the wedges. The Murphy device in its present configuration is intended for installation on a flat plane. If the Murphy device is installed on a bag top with an elevation, the sliding plate would tend to move to the closed position due to gravity. This means that during play a padlock would have to be used to secure the sliding plate in the open position. If the Murphy device is installed the other way, i.e. sliding plate is biased in open position, then the sliding plate and the clubs must all be shifted into order to move the plate to the closed position and thereby secure the golf clubs in the bag. The fact that the sliding plate comprises a relatively thick sheet of solid material and the weight of steel shaft clubs makes this a cumbersome task.
Accordingly, there is still a need for a golf club locking device which is suitable for use with golf bags having different top geometries without decreasing the club carrying capacity of the golf bag. There is also a need for golf club and bag locking device which is integrated with the golf bag.